Secrets Untold
by siapom
Summary: CBPC Jan Response A secret is shared, and that information is coveted by another. And you'll have to read it to learn more. lol T rating is for language.


Disclaimer: Trust me. If I were being paid to write, I probably wouldn't have the time to be posting on here.

_The January Challenge_: Secrets Revealed - A character must reveal a secret about themselves not already revealed in the show to another character – to make this one more difficult, the secret cannot involve their feelings about another character UNLESS it is an unusual pairing, so no Booth/Brennan or Angela/Hodgins (sorry, but that's just too easy).

Secrets Untold

Angela Montenegro's long, soft curls swirled as she quickly spun into the first open doorway to her left. Trying to breathe softly, she held as still as possible as she strained to hear the quiet conversation taking place out in the hallway...

She couldn't hear a thing. "Damn," she muttered and then sighed. She knew what she had to do, so she grabbed the long layers of her gypsy skirt and gathered them into her fist to keep them out of the way. Sliding down into a low crouch, she pushed off of the wall and edged to the doorway. When she still couldn't hear the voices she was expecting, she ducked as low as possible and quickly peeked around the doorframe.

"Damn!"

Her quarry was just turning the corner at the end of the hall. _How the hell am I supposed to hear what he's telling her if they don't slow down?_ Knowing that she needed to hurry, but not wanting to draw attention to herself, she held her impatience in check and waited until they were out of sight before she shot up to give chase. Her left foot made it onto the hallway tile before she felt the pull on her right ankle. Looking down, she groaned when she saw that the strap of her sandal had gotten wedged into a crack in the doorframe. Shaking her foot didn't free it, so she took precious time to kneel down and pull…and winced as the jeweled strap popped loose – with fewer jewels than before. Sorrowfully, she paused to mourn. After all, they were her favorite dressy-but-not-too-dressy-and-not-open-toed-so-she-could-wear-them-to-the-lab shoes. Then, remembering the import of her mission, she took off down the hall.

Two skids later she made it to the corner around which her friends had disappeared. She tried to stop, but her heels slid on the slick tiles, causing her to hold up her hands to brace herself as she hit the opposing wall with an, "oomph!" Telling her racing heart to stop beating so loudly, she paused to listen…

"Damn it! Why can't they just talk a little louder? Is that really too much to ask?"

With a long-suffering sigh, she once again gathered her skirts, slid down the wall and turned her body to peer around the corner. She had just caught sight of her prey, their shoulders touching and heads bent closely together as they continued their discussion, when the taller of the two turned to look behind him.

She gasped and pulled back so quickly that she banged the side of her head against the corner of the wall. With a hiss of pain she dropped her skirts and rubbed the warm and already puffy spot on her temple. "Fu-"

"Angela?"

Startled, she tried to pivot toward the voice, but the de-jeweled strap of her abused sandal had taken too much for one day and gave way with a snap. Losing her balance as the shoe slid out from under the side of her foot, Angela attempted to catch her herself, but her hand landed on the silky fabric of her skirt and slipped from underneath her. She landed on her ass in the middle of the hall, the voluminous skirt billowing to settle softly around her. Finally looking up, Angela puffed a stray shock of hair out of her eyes and growled, "What?"

Jack Hodgins, who had been reaching out to help her up, took a hasty step back before he realized what he was doing. To make up for that cowardly act, he firmly planted his feet in a wide stance and crossed his arms over his chest. Adopting an expression of sublime condescension, he raised one brow and smirked.

"Care to explain the cloak and dagger routine I just witnessed?"

Eyes narrowing, Angela smacked her skirt out of the way and struggled to stand on one heeled shoe. Once upright, albeit slightly lopsided without the broken sandal, she mustered her dignity.

"No. I do not."

With a toss of her head, she spun on her one good shoe and began to hobble down the corridor.

"Angela! Your shoe!"

Over her shoulder, she called back, "No time for that. They're getting away!"

Jack looked down at the sandal dangling from his fingertips and then up at the back of his retreating girlfriend.

"Who's getting away?"

He barely caught her response of "Later!" since this time she didn't even bother to turn around. With a shrug, he mumbled, "Women," before returning to the lab, glancing back only once to see Angela turn the far corner.

After she rounded the bend, Angela took a few more steps before realizing that, determined as she was that nothing was going to stop her from finding out what the FBI agent and anthropologist were talking about, her click-plop-click-plop progress down the hallway wasn't getting her any closer to her goal. Not wanting to stop, she hopped on one foot as she tried to unbuckle her remaining sandal. It only took two unsuccessful attempts before she swore and stopped to remove the hated shoe. That task complete, she took off at a run toward the side door to the parking lot to execute Plan B – get ahead of them and listen as they approach the car.

Minutes later, Angela came to a gasping stop behind a minivan that was, quite conveniently, parked beside Booth's SUV. She tried to slow her breathing and, as the wind started to gust, gathered her skirt closer so that it wouldn't blow around and reveal her hiding spot. She knew that the pair she was chasing couldn't be far off. So if all went well, she just needed to wait a few more minutes. Then, she could hear what she wanted to hear and go back inside to find some bandages for her now bleeding feet. _Damn pavement. Finding out what he told her really shouldn't be such hard work. _Shifting her weight to her less injured foot, she listened for sounds of their approach.

As Brennan's laughter suddenly rang out across the lot, Angela had to smile. _That's it. Come to momma._ She made sure that she was lined up with the back tire and sent up a silent thank you to the unknown owner of the vehicle for splurging on the dark window tinting. _They'll never know I'm here._

"Bones, it's not funny!"

"Yes, it is, Booth! I can't believe that you – "

"Shh! Not out here! Someone might hear you!"

_That's right, Bren. Loud is good. I promise not to tell…_

"Booth, are you honestly so paranoid that you think someone's out here hiding behind a parked car just waiting to hear your dirty, little secret?"

_Geez, Bren. You say that like it's a bad thing._

"Bones, I'm an FBI agent. I'm paid to be paranoid."

"I don't think that's what the FBI is paying you for. Don't you think that you might need to speak to your therapist about this raging paranoia of yours? It might be a sign of an underlying issue. I mean, have you considered that some of your more protective instincts might truly spawn from your overwhelming inclination toward – "

_Oh, God._

"Stop right there, Bones. What I do or don't speak to my therapist about is my business. Not yours."

"But – "

"No but's."

_Thank you, Booth. Now, if she'd only get back on topic._

"Fine. But, I still don't see why you're so unwilling to continue our discussion. After all, it's not like I forced the information out of you."

Angela heard the beep of the car's security system as Booth unlocked the doors. She heard one door open and hoped they'd get to back to the point before leaving.

"Actually, you won a bet. So, in a way, you _did_ force it out of me."

Another door opened as Brennan said, "Yes, but _you_ picked the terms!"

A car door shut and Booth's voice sounded muffled as he replied, "But, you're the one who set me up. How was I to know that you'd be so damned good at Clue?"

"Well after you and Dr. Goodman teased me about it, I did some research."

_Who researches Clue?_

"You researched _Clue_? Bones, Bones, Bones. What am I gonna do with you?"

Angela heard Brennan snort. "Apparently nothing since you – "

The sound of a car door slamming shut cut off the rest of the sentence. _You've got to be kidding me! _Angela's mouth dropped open. "What? 'Nothing since' he what?!" She turned and frantically tried to see through the dark tinting on the van's windows. Then, she ducked out of sight as the SUV's engine roared to life, and the vehicle backed out of its space with a squeal of tires. When she didn't hear it change gears to move forward, Angela looked to her right to see the SUV stopped in front of her. As the window rolled down, she hung her head and tried to think of a good excuse for her presence.

"Angela?" Brennan's voice sounded vaguely concerned. "Are you okay? What happened to your feet?"

Booth's voice, on the other hand… "So I'm paranoid, huh?" He glared at his partner and shifted the SUV into gear.

The window rolled back up as the SUV sped forward, leaving Angela behind with only her unsatisfied curiosity for company. She let her feet slide out so she could plop to the cold ground, sadly mumbling, "'Apparently nothing since' – "

_xxxxxxxxxx_

Hey! Don't look at me like that. Nothing in the challenge states that we have to declare what the secret is. Besides, who am I to tell Booth's secret to everyone under the sun?

Remember…reviews are love!


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